Charles Spurgeon Commentary 1 Kings 10

And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions.

Her visit, you see, had a religious aspect. She heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord. He had wisdom of various kinds, but it was his knowledge of God, and of God's ways, that seemed chiefly to attract this ruler from a far-distant land.

She came with a price in her hand to get wisdom. Solomon rightly said, "Buy the truth, and sell it not." No price is too dear to pay for it, but any price would be too cheap to sell it at.

His wisdom came from God, and therefore it was full and complete, and could not be confounded by man. Let us seek after the wisdom which comes from above, and remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Indeed, is it not the sum total of wisdom really to fear, in a filial sense, the Lord Most High?

She was a queen, but she had never seen such royal magnificence as Solomon's. The ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord appears to have been a marvelous viaduct, constructed of the most ponderous stones, by which the king went from his own house up to the temple itself. I have read that an arch of that viaduct is standing today, and it is still a marvel.

To this princess, it must have seemed a wonder of wonders.

And she said to the king, “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom. However, I did not believe the words until I came and my eyes had seen it; and behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard. Happy are your men, happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and who hear your wisdom.”

“Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel. Because the LORD loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do judgment and justice.” And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones; there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees and precious stones. And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the LORD and for the king’s house, harps also and psalteries for singers; there came no such almug trees, nor were any seen to this day.

Probably, these "almug trees" were trees of sandalwood.

Whatever they were, they seem to have been the best timber known to Eastern peoples, and therefore Solomon very properly used them in the house of the Lord. Let the harps of our praises be made of such wood that there shall be no others equal to them in the whole world.

Let us give to our Lord our best young blood, our warmest zeal, our highest thoughts, our most careful attention. Let us give Him, in fact, the whole of our being, the love of our heart. He should be served with the best of the best, for He is good, and His mercy endures forever.